Virat Kohli to Skip County Stint, Will Undergo Fitness Test on June 15

New Delhi: It was a move that had been talked about ever since news came of India skipper Virat Kohli looking to be a part of Surrey this season to prepare for the England series. While some criticised the move to skip the Afghanistan Test, others saw merit in Kohli’s desire to prepare in advance. But his stint with Surrey is now off after he has been diagnosed with a slipped disc. In fact, he will have a fitness Test on June 15 before a decision is taken on his future load management.

Speaking to Cricketnext, a senior BCCI official confirmed the development: "Yes, it is unfortunately true that Kohli is injured and he needs rest and there will be a fitness Test on June 15 before a call is taken on how to manage his work load in the future. Hopefully adequate rest will help him recover in time for national duty."

With the test to take place on June 15, Kohli was obviously ruled out of the five one-day matches for Surrey from May 27 to June 6. Add to that Surrey’s four-day game against Hampshire that starts on June 9. If Kohli did go after getting the green signal in the fitness test, the India skipper would have just a game against Somerset from June 20 and Surrey’s next encounter before he was back with India for the Ireland T20I.

But the BCCI confirmed in a mail that his stint with Surrey CCC has been called off.

Earlier, it was reported by the Mumbai Mirror that Kohli’s back problem has been diagnosed by one of the best orthopaedic surgeons in Mumbai, who also warned the 29-year-old that he risks missing the England tour if he plays county cricket in June as it will aggravate his injury and has advised him rest. The doctor’s identity was not disclosed in the report.

Kohli visited the doctor on Wednesday and was informed about the details of the damage to his spinal nerve, which though is not in a state that requires surgery. Kohli had missed one of the ODI games during the recent tour of South Africa at the beginning of the year due to a neck strain.

The India captain had previously had a tough time in England, and made success on this tour a personal mission. It is with that idea in his mind that he chose to play county cricket to get used to the different conditions before the start of the Test series. Kohli had in fact signed up with Surrey for the month of June and was set to skip the historic first Test match against Afghanistan in June.

The report also points out that Kohli has informed Surrey about his situation, but the club spokesperson claimed they are unaware of the situation and an official statement regarding the same is yet to be made.